The customs of Paphos are revived at Christmas

With dozens of customs, which marry Christian traditions with ancient customs as well as modern trends, the residents of Paphos celebrate one of the most important religious holidays, on Christmas day and a few days before the arrival of the new year. Christmas customs were revived again this year in Pafos district. From Christmas Eve, every housewife in the Cypriot countryside and in the Pafos district, who keeps the tradition, kneads buns and Christmas cookies for the birth of Christ. The housewives remember, as reported to KYPE, the children who go from house to house to sing carols. Many of these customs may no longer be practiced, however the knowledge of our tradition is an integral part of our historical continuity.

Christa Christofi, Professor of Cooking at the Evening School of the Technical School of Empas, a resident of the community of Armos in the district of Paphos, told KYPE that since Christmas Eve every housewife – mainly in the district of Pafos – kneads buns and Christmas bread for the birth of Christ which they are called genopitas. Groups of children go round the houses and sing – especially in the cities – accompanied by the sound of a metal triangle, the song of the birth of the God-man.

The success, he added, for a good bagel dough is village flour. The rest of the ingredients, he continued, include salt, yeast, sugar, mastic and anise. Every Christmas Eve, the preparation of pretzels has become an institution, he characteristically said.

The president of K.S. Pano Arodon, Mattheos Stefanou, turns his memories back and refers to the slaughter of the pig, a custom that has been reverently observed since ancient times to this day in Pano Arodes. First, he said, the families put the water to boil and then whichever family brought the water in the pot to a boil first slaughtered their pig. One resident helped another. In Pano Arodes, he added, there is Panagia the Chrysospiliotissa (in a cave) which can be visited during the Christmas season and not only on Shrove Tuesday when a festival takes place.

Mr. Stefanou noted that these days the children go around the neighborhoods of the village and sing carols while the kneading in the traditional ovens has its due. He also remembered the old days when they were kids and they would take the pig's bladder (ie the urethra) to play ball, since they had no balls. She was, as he describes her, “tight and strong” and made for a splash game.

In Paphos on Christmas day, Chloe Kasioulis reported to KYPE, a pig is slaughtered in honor of Christ, specially fed during the year. There is also the preparation of sausages and the king's pie which is made a few days later in memory of Saint Basil. Every family, he said, kneads the king pie, in which a coin is placed for the lucky person of the year.

Anna Tselepou brought her memories back to her childhood with the traditional dishes of Paphos on Christmas days. and New Year's, noting that Paphos holds “tooth and nail” the tradition to this day.

In her statements to KYPE, Mrs. Tselepou referred to the handmade sausages that are the absolute Christmas delicacy of Paphos and of our island in general, but also to the pork minced in “dry” wine (the well-known “black” from Paphiti vineyards together with his “myrrhs”) for at least four days. The spices used, he continued, are cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, artysia (cumin), while “chopped” coriander and black cumin are mandatory.

Then the housewives continued with the passage to the “anterouchtia”, i.e. the intestines of the pig that were meticulously cleaned and remained in the vinegar. This was followed by washing, while after finishing the filling of the intestines with the chopped meat and wine, the process was continued by being spread out in the sun to dry. Mrs. Tselepou remembers that the housewives hunted all the parts of the yard where the sun is during the day for at least five to six days. And the impressive thing, as she narrates, was their preservation in “fizes” that were filled with “pig milan” and could be preserved for whole months due to the lack of a refrigerator.

Ms. Tselepou also referred to the eve of the Christmas where housewives in Cyprus knead the well-known Christmas bread for the table. It is, he said, a particularly decorated bread that highlights the “craftsmanship” of the women of our country.

As he revealed, well-kept leaven will give the dough the art of rising as our mothers were well taught by their own mothers, he added. He added that the performances that are literally “embroidered” on the leavened bread are unique. A determining factor in the success of traditional constructions, he said, are the products of the region.

The breads that cause a festive mood and the the house that fills with smells and aromas, are images that are imprinted in our memory and ours. they are together for a lifetime, concluded Anna Tselepou

In Goudi of Paphos the residents prepare for a laid table and on this day they open the salad, while the priest must take some food and some wine.

The families of the mountain villages of Pafos do not lack a lit fireplace. In houses fires are lit for heat but also for good roasting of the meat. The glow of the fire is diffused from the windows of the village houses, lighting up their dark streets on cold Christmas nights.

(KYPE/KP/PX)

Source: www.reporter.com.cy

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